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Video: World champions team up to free Etixx-Quick Step car from ditchEtixx-Quick Step car stuck in ditch (source Rigoberto Uran on Twitter)

Video: World champions team up to free Etixx-Quick Step car from ditch

Rigoberto Uran films Tom Boonen, Michal Kwiatkowski and Tony Martin helping out after SUV ends up off-road
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Sep 17, 2015 14:51
4

Reigning world champion Michal Kwiatkowski and one of his predecessors in the rainbow jersey, Tom Boonen, were among the world class cycling talent who yesterday tried to help free their team car from a ditch as they prepared for the weekend’s team time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia.

It’s unclear how the GMC sports utility vehicle – presumably hired by the team, given that Lexus is the official automobile supplier to next week’s event – came to be wedged in the ditch at the roadside, but the efforts to free it were filmed by the team’s Colombian rider, Rigoberto Uran.

The mood is relaxed and light-hearted as Boonen took to the driving seat, with team mates including former world time trial champion Tony Martin helping with the pushing, and the vehicle was eventually freed.

Perhaps it was all part of the Belgian WorldTour outfit’s plan to win back the title they gained the first two times it was raced, in 2012 in Valkenburg and 2013 in Florence?

As Cannondale-Garmin-bound Uran’s caption says, “Working as a team is always better.”

On the left in the video is the team’s directeur sportid, Davide Bramati, who was suspended from Stage 6 of July’s Tour de France after a Velon video showing him celebrating Martin’s Stage 4 victory revealed he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

- Videos: Cycling on the cobbles at Tour de France, plus team staff celebrate Tony Martin's win

One reply to Uran’s post unkindly suggested an alternative GMC vehicle the Italian could use to follow the team.

Etixx-Quick Step
Richmond 2015
Rigoberto Uran
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

Avatar
RobD | 9 years ago
0 likes

Because world tour cyclists are known for their immense upper body strength?

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Darkhairedlord | 9 years ago
0 likes

SUV that can't go off road, there's a f"cking surprise.

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OldRidgeback replied to Darkhairedlord | 9 years ago
0 likes
Darkhairedlord wrote:

SUV that can't go off road, there's a f"cking surprise.

...and an SUV driver who gets a vehicle stuck - also not a surprise.

Avatar
Carton | 9 years ago
0 likes

I think Uran has the skills and the attitude to be a good team director in a few years 1

I though it was interesting that Bramati was trying to explain himself in Italian while Rigo went with English. Guess those are the universal languages of the peloton, even on a Belgian team.

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